The Book is Coming. “Ghost Bike: A Photographic Journey by Genea Barnes”

I wanted to take a minute to thank all of you again for your support in helping me to travel to photograph ghost bikes around the country. I think back and I remember that my initial goal was to hit 10 cities and photograph the ghost bikes there. This seems so silly now. Only 10 cities??

Your support was overwhelming and you all overfunded me. It inspired me to work extra hard. Though I enjoyed my trip, it was work, and it was so very important for me to make the most of my time on the road. This was not a vacation, and I did not want to let you all down for supporting me. I researched for months in advance, I planned out a route, I reached out to people in the bicycling community. I wanted to cover as much ground as I could while maximizing my possibilities for finding ghost bikes.

So 10 cities….

My days started anywhere from 6am to 9am, and ended with research around 11pm to 1am. I wanted to always make sure that I had as much information as I could to maximize my success. I wanted to make you all proud that you had supported me. I wanted to show that I was grateful, and I wanted to make the most that I could with what you all had given me.

In the end…

I made it to 45 different cities. I put just under 6000 miles on the rental car. I found 66 Ghost Bikes out of the 126 that I had sought out.

I am finally ready to publish the book I had always hoped would be the final outcome of this project. I was hoping to be ready for this stage a little sooner, but my move to New York took a large chunk of my energy this last year. The text is written and edited, the final art pieces are being selected for inclusion, and the lay out is being finished as you read this. I am eternally grateful for the support I have received, and have yet to receive, as I complete this project.

I am hoping to launch a new kickstarter campaign to publish the book October 23, 2014. I hope that I will have your support. Think of it as a way to pre-order the book. And if that reward is out of your price range, there will be a lower priced “zine” reward, and plenty of art rewards.